


1,2,3,4

by ifzi0531



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, Niall-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 18:20:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/827362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifzi0531/pseuds/ifzi0531
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I know.” Niall replies. “I love you, Zayn Malik.” </p><p>Zayn smiles widely and his eyes bore into Niall’s soul. “I love you too, Niall Horan. For me, it’s as easy as 1,2,3,4 too.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1,2,3,4

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in my lunch break at office and it's unbeta-ed and no plot and whatsoever (I guess?). So I apologize in advance if this is not good. I just, well, I just need to write something. This story is 90% based on my personal experience, yeah let's face it, the whole story, except the last part (cause my life is still an open-ending at the moment.) So yeah, just enjoy xx

_“Bye Liam. I’m going to miss you so bad.” Niall says between their kisses as they are standing at near the boarding gate at the airport._

_“Me too, babe.” Liam replies, deepening the kiss and when they pull away, they both have tears in their eyes._

_“Don’t forget me, yeah?” Niall asks, sniffling a little because God damn it, he’s not going to cry in front of his boyfriend because it will make the goodbye harder._

_“I won’t. Remember, I love you.” Liam says and pauses._

_“Always and forever.” They both chorus at the same time._

**

“Congratulations, Ni! You made it! You’re now entitled as an engineer!” Harry whoops as loud as ever while Niall smiles brightly. He couldn’t believe it. He was finally appointed as an engineer at the company that he had applied to. He pulls out his cellphone and starts to dial the familiar number. 

“Hi, Li! I have..” Niall exclaims excitedly as soon as his boyfriend picks up the phone. 

“Niall, I’m in the middle of something. Call me later, yeah.” Liam cuts Niall off in rush before the line went dead. 

Niall frowns as he stares at phone. Liam always listen on what he wanted to say before this, when they were busy at the university, they managed to talk about their day at night but lately, it changes. Liam is always busy with his work and new friends and new things to do, that sometimes Niall feels like Liam is abandoning him. 

“Ni, you’re alright?” Harry asks, breaking Niall from his stupor as he tilts his head up to look to Harry and gives his best friend a small smile. 

“Yeah, fine.” Niall answers shortly. He knows he is fine, Liam is just probably busy to settle at the new place. Yeah, no need to worry, Niall keeps telling himself. 

**

“So, when is your boyfriend is going to come here?” Louis asks as he plops on the couch besides Niall, watching as the blonde stares at the television screen blankly and he knows something is wrong. 

“He’s not.” Niall mumbles quietly. “He said he has some datelines for his work, so he needs to cancel the trip.” He continues. He just got off the phone with his boyfriend and he couldn’t help but feels disappointed. He was so excited that Liam is coming home weeks before but at the very last minute, Liam cancels. Not that he blames Liam but he just..why just couldn’t Liam leaves his work for one weekend with Niall?

Louis sighs as he wraps his arms around Niall. The older guy knows that Niall is sad because he couldn’t meet Liam over the weekend. Louis knows he couldn’t blame Liam. It’s not like that they were still at the university where they can skip the class as they wanted to. Now they are officially adults with jobs and commitments but still, it hurts Louis to see when Niall is feeling down. “It’s okay, Ni. Harry and I can cheer you up.” Louis says and smiles at Niall, pinching the younger guy’s rosy cheeks. 

Niall swats Louis’s hand away and shakes his head. “I’m not going to be the third wheel on your date, thank you very much.” Niall declines. He is happy for both of his best friends, really. But both of them could be so disgustingly touchy sometimes and Niall is not going to stuck in the middle of their make out session, _again_. He accidentally watched it once and he is scarred for life, he thought. 

Louis laughs out loud, knowing exactly what Niall is referred to. “You have no choice, Ni. We’re not going to let you mope around the house for the whole weekend just because your boyfriend cancels on your plans.” He says stubbornly.

Niall sighs. What Louis says is probably true. He knows he would mope around because hell yeah, he had already planned everything for the whole weekend. But yet, Liam bails on him, once again. “Okay, fine.” He finally says and Louis gives him sloppy kiss on the cheek, as Louis always do. 

** 

Harry spots his blonde friend as soon he enters the café and stops on his track when his eyes fall to the guy besides Niall. The boy has a dark-hair, tall and is that a jaw? Holy shit! The guy is freaking handsome and Niall is laughing at something the guy says and Harry couldn’t help but smiles. It’s been a while since he sees Niall laughs like that. Not since Liam is always busy at the other part of the world and couldn’t even come to meet Niall. Harry shakes his head and strides towards his best friend. 

“Hey, Ni!” Harry greets loudly as he seats at the empty chair on the table. He extends his hand to introduce himself to the guy besides Niall. “I’m Harry.”

The guy smiles at him and returns the handshake. “I’m Zayn.” 

Harry has to bite back his squeals because hell yeah, even the sound of Zayn’s voice is sexy. He then turns to look at Niall. “So, Ni. About the weekend..”

Niall rolls his eyes. “I know, I know.” He groans. “But I told Louis that I don’t want to be the third wheel.”

Harry shakes his head and points his finger at Niall. “You. Don’t. Have. A. Choice.” He punctuates every words and Zayn laughs. And oh yeah, he forgot about Zayn. 

“So, Zayn, I’ve never heard about you from Niall. He usually blubbers about his new friend to us.” Harry says and Niall rolls his eyes at his best friend again. 

“It’s his first day here, Harry.” Niall explains and Zayn nods, confirming what Niall had said. 

Harry raises his eyebrows. “Really? Looks like you guys have known each other for a long time. Could’ve fooled me.” 

“Well, sometimes when you meet people, you just clicked right on, you know?” Zayn says and Harry nods. Yeah, he understands. Niall actually has the aura to make people feels as his best friend even when they know him for a few minutes. But the way Zayn and Niall act in front of him, reminds Harry so much of himself and Louis. He swallows nervously and before he knows it, he blurts the question out. “So, Zayn, fancy to join us to hang out this weekend?” 

**

“Bye guys. Nice hanging out with you.” Zayn says as he steps out of Louis’s car. 

Louis smiles widely and rolls his window down. “Bye! Nice knowing you! See you later!” He says excitedly and Zayn chuckles before he turns and walks into his building. Louis likes Zayn. He feels like Zayn is his new partner-in-crime and he’s glad that Harry and Niall had introduced him to the guy. 

“You do like him, don’t you?” Harry asks his boyfriend and Louis nods eagerly. 

“He’s quite shy at first and I almost scolded you for bringing him along. Turns out, he is as mischievous as me and I like it.” Louis says and turns his head to look at Harry. He then leans down and kisses his boyfriend passionately. “But then, you are my favourite person ever and I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Harry replies between their kisses and they pull away when someone clears his throat from the backseat. 

“Hello! I’m still here!” Niall pouts and crosses his arms over his chest. 

Louis and Harry laughs and Louis starts to drive to their home again. “So, Ni. Zayn seems to like you a lot.” Louis says as he looks at Niall’s reflection through the rear-view mirror. 

“Yeah, he likes you guys too, I guess.” 

Louis shakes his head and glances over at Harry, knowing that his boyfriend is thinking the same way too. “No, what I mean is, Niall. He _likes_ you.” 

Niall seems to fall silent for a moment before he bursts out laughing. “No, he’s not.” When Louis and Harry don’t laugh, Niall raises his eyebrows. “Are you guys serious?” 

Harry nods. “Yeah.” 

Niall shakes his head. “Guys, don’t you remember that I do have a boyfriend named Liam?” 

“Who hasn’t contact you properly for weeks? Who bails on you and couldn’t even make time to apologize?” Louis snaps and damn, that hurts. 

“Lou…” Harry shakes his head as he touches his boyfriend’s arm gently, trying to remind him to be aware of Niall’s feelings. 

Louis sighs. “Sorry, Ni.” He says and Niall just keeps silence and stares at the scenery outside the window. “It’s just. I’m mad at him for doing this to you, Ni. You deserve better than him. You deserve someone who appreciates you.”

Niall blinks back his tears at Louis’s words. “I love him, Lou and I know he loves me too. We’re just having a rough patch, that’s all.” Is all Niall says and they all fall into silence. 

**

“Liam!” Niall greets excitedly as he picks up his phone when Liam’s name flashes on the display. 

“Hi, Niall.” Liam starts, his voice quiet and Niall feels his heart drops. 

“Li? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Niall asks worriedly. He turns off the television and now his house is totally quiet so that he can listen to Liam properly. 

“Ni..I think..I can’t do this anymore.” Liam says and Niall tightens his grip on the phone. 

“Can’t do what?” Niall asks, his voice quiets but deep inside, he feels like he knows where the conversation is heading. 

“This. Us.” Liam says and Niall feels a first tear roll down on his cheek. 

“What do you mean, Li? I love you…I thought you love me too..” Niall says, his voice quivers and his hands are cold. He can’t believe this. He refuses to believe this. 

“I love you, Niall.” Niall can hear Liam sniffs and he is just so confuses. “But it’s hard right now, Niall. Sometimes I miss you so bad and need to talk to you about my day but you’re not here..you’re there..so far away from me..”

“You know you can call me anytime..” Niall points out. 

“It’s not the same, Ni..I can’t hold you..hell, I can’t even see you smile and that fucking hurts and I just think..that maybe we have to end this so that we both won’t be hurt anymore..”

“No..” Niall says as he shakes his head. “I say that’s not even a reason!” Niall argues as he can feel more tears roll out on his cheeks and he wipes it away angrily. “We can do this, Li! I can..I can move there with you and I..”

“Niall, we both know it’s hard..you just have started your career. I am too. And we’re so far apart and maybe..maybe this is the best for us..maybe you deserve someone else, who can be close to you, who can hold you, who can be there with you all the time..” 

“I don’t want someone else! I want you!” Niall says, his voice cracks at the words. “I just want you, Liam. Please, please don’t do this. Please..” Niall pleads. 

“I’m sorry, Niall. I’m so so sorry.” Liam says before he hangs up. Niall drops his phone on the couch as he folds his knees up and buried his face under his arms, sobbing brokenly.

**

“That bastard!” Louis yells angrily as he throws the cushion and it ends up hitting the floor with a thud and Harry glares at him. 

“Lou, calm down.” Harry says sternly as he runs his hand through Niall’s hair, who is currently lying his head on Harry’s lap, still bawling his eyes out over the break up. 

“I can’t calm down! He didn’t even have the gut to break it face to face and use the phone instead!” Louis says and Niall flinches at his words, shaking as he starts to cry harder again. 

Harry gives Louis a look that said, ‘look what’ve you done!’ and Louis kneels in front of the couch, wiping Niall’s tears with his thumb. 

“I’m sorry, Niall. I just..” Louis says and pauses. “I’m mad at him for doing this to you.” 

Niall nods silently. He knows Louis means well, but it just hurts so much at the moment. 

Harry looks down at Niall. “Ni, when was the last time you’ve eaten?” He asks softly and Niall replies with a shrug. Harry nods and starts to shift, gesturing Louis to take his place and stands up from the couch. “I’m going to prepare some foods and we’re going to eat it together, yeah?” 

Niall shakes his head. “Don’t want..” He mumbles quietly and Harry shakes his head. 

“You have to, Ni. Please?” Harry pleads and gives Niall his puppy-dog eyes and smiles when Niall finally nods. He knows Niall is going to be fine. All Niall needs is time. 

**

Zayn bites the tip of his pen as he stares at the blonde guy who is sitting a few cubicles across him and sighs. He knows something is wrong. Niall doesn’t smile as lively as before and his eyes doesn’t spark as usual and Zayn just knows that something is off. 

Zayn waits until their lunch time before he blurts out the question. “Are you okay, Niall?” 

Niall raises his eyebrows at Zayn. “I’m fine. Why?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Are you sure? Cause you rarely smiles lately.” 

Niall forces a smile as he looks at Zayn. “See, I’m smiling now, Zayn.”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “That’s not your real smile. Your eyes will shine as bright when you smile and that’s when I know that you’re smiling genuinely.”

Niall shakes his head and couldn’t help but admits that Zayn’s words get him flustered. He doesn’t know that anyone would notice that about him. “You’re very observant.” Niall says. 

Zayn smiles and nods his head. “Indeed I am. I also notice that you’re easily distracted lately when you’re working and you just seems..I don’t know..lack of spirit?” Zayn says and winces at his choice of words. “Is there something wrong at home?” 

Niall sighs. “I just..well..I just went through a break up..” 

Zayn almost chokes on his coffee as soon as Niall finishes. “Why?” Zayn asks. He doesn’t mean to be nosy. He just doesn’t understand why. From what he has known from Niall, both of them were in a long term relationship and yeah, Zayn just doesn’t understand why. 

“He said it’s because of the distance..” Niall says and pauses. “Or maybe I’m just not good enough for him to hold on to..” He continues quietly. 

Zayn impulsively grabs Niall’s arms and stares at the boy sternly. “Distance is not even a reason, if you ask me. And please, don’t say that you’re not good enough for him. You’re more than good enough for anyone. Trust me, it’s his loss, not yours.” Zayn says determinedly. 

Niall blinks his eyes in shocked, never peg Zayn for the one who can comfort him but surprisingly that’s what Zayn does at the moment. “Thanks, Zayn. It means a lot.” 

Zayn nods. “No problem. That’s the truth, after all.” He says. “So, you want me to install this one application in your phone where you can hit the cartoon and pretend the cartoon is your ex-boyfriend?” He asks, his tone innocent but his eyes glint mischievously. 

Niall laughs out loud at that and punches Zayn’s arms playfully. “You’re crazy!” 

**

“God hates me.” Niall groans as he looks at the email and Zayn raises his eyebrows. 

“Then I guess, God hates both of us?” Zayn says and Niall rolls his eyes. 

“No, I know it’s just me. Look, we have to be stationed at this..” Niall says and pointing his finger at the email, “..company..for like what, two weeks?” 

Zayn nods. “So?” Still not understand why Niall looks so miserable. 

“Soooo…this company happens to be where my ex-boyfriend is working…” Niall says and Zayn blinks his eyes, finally understands on what Niall is groaning about. 

“Well, you might not bump into him.” Zayn says. 

Niall nods and sighs. “I hope so.” 

**

Turns out, God really hates Niall (that’s what Niall thinks) when his temporary table is placed on the same floor, in fact just few metres away from Liam’s place. 

“Here, brought you drink.” Liam says as he put the mineral water on Niall’s table and leaves. Niall turns slowly to look at Zayn and he knows Zayn is as confused as he is. 

“What’s that all about?” Zayn asks and Niall shrugs. 

It drags over a couple of days where Liam acts like they’re kind of sort of dating and Niall is beyond confused. That’s when he decides to confront Liam about it. 

**

“Liam, what are we actually?” Niall asks, as they are sitting the car, with Liam driving aimlessly to kill the time. They had spent the whole day together and Niall feels all his feelings are coming back again because somehow, Liam still treats him like they are still dating and it makes Niall confused. 

“Niall, I thought we talked this over.” Liam says and Niall shakes his head. 

“No, we didn’t. You told me through the phone, Liam? We had 5 years of relationship and you broke up with me through the phone?!” Niall snaps, feeling all of his pent up anger resurfaces. 

Liam pulls over on the side of the road, and stops the car. They both stare ahead, refuses to stare at each other. “Because I knew I wouldn’t have the heart to break up with you if I looked at you, Niall.”

“So, why you did it…why wouldn’t we work?” Niall says, his voice cracks and he is trying his best to hold up the tears. 

“It’s hard, Niall.” Liam says. “We’re too far away..”

Niall feels his anger rises again. “No we don’t, god damnit! We’re living in the world of technology nowadays! We can call, message, skype or whatever else that can connect through our mobiles!” Niall snaps. His voice is full with frustration. “So tell me, Liam, are you sure you don’t want to give us another shot?” Niall asks, still hoping that Liam can change his mind. That maybe there’s still hope for them. That maybe what they had for 5 years mean something to Liam and it worth fighting for. 

“I’m sorry, Niall..I can’t..” 

Niall wipes away the first tear and turns his head to look at the window. He feels it now. The dread of feeling rejected by someone. By his long-term ex-boyfriend nonetheless. “Is it true we wouldn’t work because of the distance only, or maybe there’s something else…” Niall asks bluntly. In the back of his mind, he always think that was the real reason why Liam wanted to break if off. 

“Niall, you know it’s not like that.” Liam says. “Not yet anyway…” 

Niall feels another tears rolling down on his cheeks again. “I see. Tell me the truth, Liam. I’m sick of playing games. I just want to know the real reason. Not the bullshit one such as distance and whatsoever.” 

Liam sighs. “Niall, I don’t want to hurt you..”

“You already did.” 

“Sorry.” 

Niall snaps his head and turns to look at Liam properly. “I don’t want your apologize! I want to know the real reason why you wouldn’t fight for us anymore!” 

Liam blinks his eyes and shakes his head slightly. “Maybe..maybe I’m just afraid that I might fall in love with someone else that is always there with me…” Liam says and quickly adds. “It’s not you, it’s me. I’m the weak one here, I don’t want to hurt you more in the future so I figure..”

“Drive me back to the hotel.” Niall says quietly, cutting Liam off. 

“Niall..”

Niall leans his head on the window and shakes his head. “Just drive me back to the hotel, please. I’m done here.” 

Liam stares at Niall for a while before he finally manoeuvres the car on the road again. This time, Niall doesn’t even have the energy to wipe away his tears. 

**

Zayn glances at the clock again and bite his lip. It’s past midnight and Niall hasn’t even come back yet. He admits he is quite worried since Niall had been gone for the whole day. Or maybe he is just jealous. Not that he will admit it to anyone. Zayn is about to call Niall when suddenly the door of their shared hotel room is open and the figure closes the door quietly behind him. 

Zayn stands up slowly from his bed and walks toward the figure. “Niall..” He calls out quietly as he can only see Niall’s back as the other guy is leaning his forehead on the closed door, his body is slightly shaking and Zayn feels his protective mode is on. “Niall..” He calls again and walks closer to the other guy. “What happened?” 

That’s all it takes before Niall suddenly sobbing and slumps down on his knees and Zayn feels his heart breaking at the sight. He kneels down and pulls Niall’s body towards him, feeling the smaller guy clutching on his shirt and cries his heart out. Zayn pulls Niall’s body tighter when he feels Niall is trembling hard. “Shhh, it’s okay..” Zayn assures as he kisses on Niall’s hair lightly, pulling the other guy close into his arm. When Niall doesn’t seem to stop shaking, Zayn doesn’t know whether it’s from his crying or because the cold tiles or maybe it’s both, Zayn scoops Niall in his arms and they both sit on Niall’s bed. 

Zayn doesn’t know how long it takes before Niall’s cry finally subsides to a silent tear and he starts to pull away from Zayn. “Sorry..” Niall mumbles quietly and Zayn smiles slightly at Niall. 

“No worries. I’m here.” He says and Niall nods gratefully as he still doesn’t look up to look at Zayn. Zayn pads his thumb over Niall’s cheek, wiping away the remaining tears and Niall shudders under his touch. “Get some sleep, yeah? It’s been a long day for you.” Zayn says as he gently lifts Niall down under his comforter and tucks him in. 

And before Zayn can turn around and heads towards his own bed, Niall calls out his name. “Zayn..” 

Zayn turns his head to look at Niall. “Yeah?” 

“Do you think I’m not worth fighting for?” Niall asks quietly. “Do you think that I’m not good enough to make Liam happy because he feels the need to fall for someone else besides me?” 

Zayn stares at Niall for a while before he huffs angrily. Not at Niall, but at Liam for making Niall feels like this. “Scoots over.” Zayn says as he shifts himself to sit beside Niall’s lying form, pulling the smaller guy to lie his head on Zayn’s lap. 

“You are worth more than that, Ni. Don’t you ever think so low of yourself. Like I said before, it’s his loss, not yours. Maybe you guys are just not meant to be together. I know you still love him, at least a little and he is the same too, I can see that. But his love is not strong enough as before because he doesn’t feel the need to fight for your relationship anymore. From what I’ve seen, you’re both playing game of strings here. Both are afraid to let go properly and move on.” 

“But…we’ve been together for 5 years..and he..just..replaced me..” Niall chokes between his tears. He knows what Zayn says is true but it still doesn’t help that it hurts him to the bones. 

Zayn rubs his hand gently on Niall’s shoulder, comforting the other guy. He hates to see his happy-go-lucky friend feels so upset like this. “I know. But the duration of your relationship doesn’t guarantee that you’ll end up together forever. It’s fate. God has plans for each of us, and He knows what he is doing. Maybe it’s hard to accept now but later, you’ll find someone else that can make you happy. That will do anything to make you happy. And that will make you worth fighting for.” 

Niall nods but still crying nonetheless. He doesn’t know how to explain his feelings at the moment. He knows he is sad but somehow he feels relief that he finally gets the real reason from Liam’s mouth himself, not just through the phone. Maybe it’s closure for both of them. 

**

Niall smiles as he watches the sight in front of him. Zayn and Louis are trying to cook for all of them and Niall, well, let’s just say he is just waiting to eat, as usual. The only person that catch Niall’s eyes the most is Zayn. He is so thankful that he met Zayn. He didn’t realize that a colleague from work would become one of his best friends now. Zayn becomes his rock throughout the year after he broke off with Liam. To say that he was a mess was an understatement. He was broken. But Zayn was there for him, helping him putting his heart back together along with Louis and Harry. 

“Like what you see?” A sudden voice besides him makes Niall jumps out slightly from his seat. 

“Harry! Way to give me a heart attack!” Niall scolds but there is no heat in his tone. Harry chuckles and wraps one of his arms around Niall. 

“You still don’t answer my question.” Harry points out. 

“What question?” Niall asks, playing dumb because he knows exactly what Harry is asking. 

Harry rolls his eyes fondly and pinches Niall’s cheeks. “You know what I mean, Nialler.” 

Niall smiles and shakes his head. “Yeah, I like seeing them happy, okay?”

“Them, or Zayn?” Harry teases and of course Niall’s cheek turns to red as soon as Zayn name is mentioned and Harry has to bite himself from cooing from the adorableness. 

“Harry…” Niall whines shyly because yes, he might develop a certain feelings towards Zayn but he is still not sure yet. And he is still not sure whether Zayn is feeling the same way too. Plus, Zayn always talk to him about other boys so yes, of course Niall doesn’t think that Zayn likes him as more than friends. 

“Niall..” Harry put on his finger on Niall’s chin, tilting his friend’s face to look at him. “Be straightforward with him. You might surprise by his answer.” Harry says and smiles. 

“Or he will reject me and we would be awkward and..” Niall replies quietly. 

Harry shakes his head and leans closer to Niall. “But you don’t that yet, do you? Where is the optimistic-Nialler that I used to know before? And don’t say it’s gone after Liam because I swear to God that’s not true. Plus, if he doesn’t reciprocate your feeling, then you can move on and find someone else. You don’t want to be stuck in limbo forever, right?” 

Niall blinks his eyes as Harry finishes with his words and finally grins widely. “Oh, Harry, you’ve grown up!” He teases fondly but his eyes are saying thanks to Harry nonetheless. 

**

Niall is lying if he says he is not nervous about tonight. He knows it is supposed to be a usual night out with Zayn but tonight, he is determined to confess to Zayn that he likes him as more than a friend. 

“Hey, Niall!” Zayn greets Niall as he arrives at their usual table at the diner. Every week, they will hang out at that place because the foods are great and they both like the view from the window. But tonight, the air feels different. Niall knows it is because he is nervous and suddenly he feels scared. 

_**Harry, what if I just bail and never tell him about it? -Ni** _

_**Don’t be ridiculous, Ni. You’ll be fine. Stop texting me, focus on Zayn. :P –H** _

**

 _ **Shit. What if I screw this up? -Zayn**_

Zayn sends the text quickly before he looks up to see at Niall again. He is certain that he is going to tell Niall about his feeling towards the younger boy tonight but when he sees Niall, he feels his stomach is filled with butterflies, literally. His phone buzzes and Zayn looks down to the reply. 

_**“No, you won’t. Stop texting, keep talking! And don’t make a mess upon my Nialler! -Lou** _

Zayn snorts. Only Louis would reply with things like that. He puts down his phone into his pocket and stares at the boy in front of him. Niall is wearing white shirt with red vest and his hair is in a messy style and Zayn would be lying if doesn’t think of running his hand through Niall’s hair. 

The diner goes on fine as usual as they keep bantering back and forth and they fall into silence for few seconds before Zayn clears his throat. “So, I have something important to tell you.” 

Niall swallows nervously as Zayn stares at him and he tries to keep his composure. “Oh, yeah?” Shit, it is supposed to be him that saying that to Zayn, not the other way around. 

Zayn nods and inhales a deep breath before he starts to talk again. “There’s this guy that I like.” He blurts out. 

Niall feels his heart drops and all of his courage for the night fly off the window. “I see.” He replies, trying to feign cheerfulness for Zayn. “You like _like_ him?” 

Zayn nods. “A lot. It’s just so easy with him, you know. I love seeing him happy. I love his smile, his eyes, hell, I even like his hair.” Zayn says dreamily. 

Niall blinks his eyes rapidly as he listens to Zayn’s words. “So, are you going to introduce him to me?” 

Zayn sighs and stares at Niall. “That’s the thing. He doesn’t know that I like him.” 

“Then, tell him.” Niall says as he stares at Zayn too, smiling, or more likely forcing a smile. 

“It’s not that simple. I’m afraid that he might not like me back.” Zayn admits and he really hopes that Niall gets what he is saying at the moment because isn’t it obvious that he is head over heels with the guy in front of him? 

Niall snorts and shakes his head. “Nobody that doesn’t like you must be a fool.” He says sincerely and they both fall silence, staring at each other’s eyes before Niall breaks the eye contact and suddenly standing up. “Sorry, just realized that I’ve to go somewhere else.” He says and puts few notes on the table, and flees from the diner. 

Zayn stares blankly as Niall leaves him alone at the diner and he feels his heart crumbles. But before he could text Louis about it, he feels his phone vibrating against his pocket. “Hello?” 

“Please tell me you’re on your way to chase Niall or else I’ll punch your pretty face, Malik.” Harry’s voice is heard instead of Louis and Zayn frowns. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Zayn asks, but he is already making his way out from the diner as well because suddenly he is worried.

“Argh! You guys are so frustrated!” Harry says over the phone and Zayn can hear a noise other than Harry’s voice and he stops walking. “Is that Louis? Are Louis with you? Wait, do you guys know that I want to tell Niall about my feeling tonight?” Zayn asks, trying to be calm because hell, Louis is supposed to keep it as a secret! 

“Zayn!” Louis’s voice is talking on the phone now and Zayn snaps at him. “I told you that it’s supposed to be a secret!” 

“I know! But then Harry said that Niall wanted to tell you that he likes you and I figured that you both are doing the same thing and..” 

“Wait!” Zayn cuts Louis off. “Niall said he wanted to tell me that he likes me?” Zayn asks, disbelievingly. “But why would he take off…” 

“Because you said you like a guy, you idiot!” Harry yells over the speaker and Zayn is literally facepalms himself. “I thought..I thought he knew what I meant..” Zayn says. 

“No, he didn’t! He’s a straightforward guy, Zayn. You can’t be cryptic around him. Go get him and tell him and if I get one more sad call from him, beware of your pretty jaw, got it?” Harry warns before the line goes off. 

Zayn stares at the phone for a while to process about the conversation earlier before he glances around and takes off to the direction that he knows Niall would be. 

**

Niall closes his eyes and feels the cold wind that breezes through the night. He shivers a little before he feels something is drape on his body and he snaps his eyes open to look at it. A jacket and it looks so familiar that Niall doesn’t have to look up to see who is suddenly sitting beside him on the bench. 

“I thought you said you’ve someplace to go?” Zayn asks as he looks at Niall. 

“Yeah..” Niall replies quietly, trying to hide the thickness in his voice because of his crying earlier. He didn’t expect that he would be this sad, knowing that Zayn likes someone else, but indeed, it does hurt. So much. 

“Harry called me.” Zayn starts and Niall snaps his head to turn to look at Zayn. And at that moment he knows, Zayn knows that Niall likes him. “Damn Harry.” Niall curses as he rubs his hand over his face. “Look, Zayn. It’s okay. You don’t have to pity me. If you like someone else, it’s okay.” Niall says. 

“Niall, I..” 

“Look, so that’s it, yeah. I like you and unfortunately you don’t like me, right? So that’s mean maybe we’re not meant..” 

Niall’s words are cut off when suddenly he feels Zayn’s soft lips on his lips and Niall’s eyes go wide. They pull away breathlessly and leans their foreheads together. “What the hell was that?” Niall asks, panting. 

“Cause you won’t shut up, Horan. I like you, okay? I’m sorry I was confusing back at the diner but I thought you knew who I meant. It’s obviously you. Everyone could see that.” Zayn says as he runs his thumbs over Niall’s cheeks, caressing it gently. 

Niall shudders, both from the cold and Zayn’s touch. “Is that true? I thought..you like someone else..cause you know..I’m just..me..” Niall says lamely. 

Zayn smiles widely and kisses Niall’s lips again for a second. “I swear Niall. It’s you. Only you.” Zayn says as he sees that Niall’s cheeks have gone red and Zayn couldn’t resist to pinch it cause it’s fucking adorable. “I like you. So much that you can’t imagine it, Ni.” 

Niall blushes again and leans closer to Zayn. “I like you too, Zayn. Trust me, I really do.” He says before both of them start to kiss again. 

They both cuddles on the bench after that, gazing at the stars and sighing happily. Their comfortable silence is interrupted by the sounds of both of their phones. Zayn and Niall raises their eyebrows at each other and both look at their phone with different names on the display. 

“Harry.” Niall says at the same time as Zayn says, “Louis.” 

Niall grins mischievously. “What do you say if we ignore their calls for a little while? They both broke their promises to keep our secrets so just let them pay for it.” 

Zayn snorts amusingly. “But they made us got together in the end.” He says as he looks at Niall with a slight frown. But after few seconds, Zayn’s face breaks into a grin. “But hell yeah, let them pay for what they did.” He continues as both of them ignore the calls and switch off their phones. 

“So?” Zayn asks as he starts to stand up and pull Niall’s hand with him. “Want to stroll around London city at midnight, my lovely boyfriend?” He says but then pauses uncertainly. “I can call you my boyfriend now, right?” 

Niall blushes profusely as he lets Zayn pulls him up and nods. “Yes, you can call me your boyfriend.” Niall says shyly. 

**

“Where are you taking me?” Zayn asks as Niall leads him towards a place that he doesn’t know since he is blindfolded from home.

“It’s a secret.” Niall says, chuckling when Zayn pouts and he kisses Zayn’s pouty lips briefly before he leads his boyfriend to the destination. Once they reach the table, Niall pushes Zayn to sit on the chair and he opens the blindfold. 

Zayn blinks his eyes to adjust from the darkness to the sudden light and he glances around. “Ni, what is this?” He asks as he looks at the scene. They are on the rooftop of their apartment (yes, they moved in together) and Zayn is sitting at the small table, with a candle and Niall is standing in front of him with a guitar. 

Niall smiles and shrugs. “Happy one year anniversary, babe.” He says, his cheeks flush as Zayn stares at him, “Do you like it? Or is it too simple? I just, I didn’t know what to do then Harry gave some suggestions and I thought this is the best one..I mean, we both like to spend our time here and the view is so beautiful and I..” Niall rambles. 

“Babe, it’s perfect.” Zayn cuts his boyfriend off and couldn’t help to admit that Niall is so cute when he goes all red.

Niall stops talking and looks at Zayn. “Really? You’re not lying, right?” 

Zayn playfully gasps in surprise. “How dare you? I’ve never lied to you.” 

Niall smiles and nods in agreement. “Okay, I trust you.” He says and starts to strum with his guitar. “Hurm..I just..remember that the time when you told me that you love me and I..well I..” Niall trails off. 

Zayn smiles softly as he looks at his boyfriend. “You told me you were not ready yet and I understand, Ni. I won’t force you to say it back to me.” He says truthfully. 

Niall swallows back his tears at Zayn’s kindness and sometimes he wonder which star he struck because he couldn’t believe how great Zayn is to him. “Yeah..but tonight..I just..I just want to tell you in my own way, is that okay?” 

Zayn nods. “My pleasure, baby.” 

Niall smiles and clears his throat, staring at Zayn’s eyes before he starts. “ _1..2…1..2…3…4.._ ”

_Give me more loving than I've ever had_  
Make it all better when I'm feeling sad  
Tell me I'm special even when I know I'm not  
Make it feel good when it hurts so bad  
Barely get mad  
I'm so glad I found you  
I love being around you  
You make it easy 

_It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4_  
There's only  
ONE thing  
TWO do  
THREE words  
FOUR you... 

_**I love you** _

_There's only_  
ONE way  
TWO say  
Those THREE words  
And that's what I'll do... 

_**I love you** _

_Give me more loving from the very start_  
Piece me back together when I fall apart  
Tell me things you never even tell your closest friends  
Make it feel good when it hurts so bad  
The best that I've had  
And I'm so glad I found you  
I love being around you  
You make it easy 

_It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4_  
There's only  
ONE thing  
TWO do  
THREE words  
FOUR you... 

_**I love you** _

_There's only_  
ONE way  
TWO say  
Those THREE words  
And that's what I'll do 

_**I love you**  
 **I love you** _

_1-2-3-4_

_**I love you**  
 **I love you** _

Niall opens his eyes as he finishes and looks at Zayn. “Oh my God, you’re crying, I’m sorry. I thought you’d be happy..I’d..”

Zayn quickly stands up and puts his hands on Niall’s face, pulling his boyfriend’s face gently before he kisses him. “I’m crying because I’m happy, you idiot.” Zayn scolds Niall fondly after they pull away and leans their foreheads together. “I’m always waiting for you to say that to me, Niall.” 

“I know.” Niall replies. “I love you, Zayn Malik.” 

Zayn smiles widely and his eyes bore into Niall’s soul. “I love you too, Niall Horan. For me, it’s as easy as 1,2,3,4 too.”

**Author's Note:**

> credit song to Plain White T's - 1,2,3,4


End file.
